The contract gives the workers raises and a union health care plan with premiums fully paid by employer Sims.

The workers, who recycle all the city’s residential trash, said they wanted to join a union to improve their prior health care coverage — which they said was too expensive — and get better treatment on the job.

"We worked so hard to get to this point, but it was worth it," said José Lopez, a Sims worker and union leader.

George Miranda, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 210, said the Sims workers got a lot of support from the community, labor backers and those in the environmental justice movements.

"This is a win that will transform the lives of the immigrant workers at Sims, but it is part of a larger fight to transform the city’s sanitation system. We are going to win that fight too, for all our workers and communities,” Miranda said.

The new contract also guarantees annual raises, a retirement plan, increased vacation time and a higher education program.